Sausage has been with us since man learnt how to preserve food. The first recorded mention of sausage is sometime during the 8th century BC and it proved an immensely popular food amongst the ancient Greeks and Romans alike. Today sausages come in all shapes and sizes - at N1, your favourite Cape Town meat wholesalers, we have nearly 20 varieties alone to choose from - and are enjoyed worldwide with each country making it their own in some way, just think ‘boerewors’ and you get the idea. As we know, there are literally hundreds and hundreds of different types of sausages - Germany alone is purported to have more than 1,000 - but all the bratwurst, chorizo and salami aside, have you heard of these five sausages before?
1. Saveloy
A saveloy is a type of highly seasoned sausage, usually bright red, normally boiled and available in most fish and chip shops around the United Kingdom. It is occasionally also available fried in batter. Popular in the North East of England, saveloys are sometimes eaten in a "Saveloy Dip" sandwich: the bun is dipped in the water which the saveloy is boiled in or in gravy, with a layer of stuffing and pease pudding, additionally seasoned with English mustard. In the rest of the United Kingdom, it is most commonly eaten from fish and chip shops.
2. Kabanos
Kabanos, also known as cabanossi (which is how we know it here in South Africa, although here we lean more towards using beef as opposed to pork) or kabana, is a long, thin, dry sausage usually made of pork which originated in Poland. They are smoky in flavour and can be soft or very dry in texture depending on freshness. Typically, they are quite long, 60 cm, but very thin, with a diameter of around 1 cm, and folded in two, giving them a characteristic appearance. Versions made of chicken and turkey are staples in kosher meat markets and delicatessens.
3. Andouille
Andouille is a smoked sausage made using pork, originating in France. In Brittany and Normandy particularly, the traditional ingredients of andouille are primarily pig chitterlings (the small intestines), tripe, onions, wine, and seasoning. It is generally grey and has a distinctive odour. A similar, but unsmoked and smaller sausage is called andouillette, literally "little andouille". Some andouille varieties use the pig's entire gastrointestinal system.
4. Longaniza
Longaniza is a Spanish sausage similar to chorizo. It’s broadly known as a long, thin spiced pork sausage which differs from traditional sausage in that the pork is chopped, not ground, before being placed into its intestinal casing. While this seems like a small deviation from ordinary pork sausage, it’s said to offer a whole new array of flavours and textures. A true longaniza is typically made with lean pork fat and meat, but different regions have adapted it and use chicken, beef, and even tuna in their recipes.
5. Botifarra
Botifarra is a Catalan speciality, a white sausage made almost in the same way as the morcilla blood sausage, but without blood. The sausage is based on ancient Roman recipes and consists of pork meat and numerous spices and seasoning, as well as additional ingredients which may vary. Some varieties of botifarra are made with unusual ingredients such as truffles, eggs, boiled rice, and tripe in the mixture. Although botifarra is usually not cooked, it can be boiled when prepared in the dish known as escudella i carn d'olla, a traditional Catalan dish with boiled vegetables, meat, and beans.
At N1 we might not offer any of the above sausages, but there are still a wide variety of sausages to choose from – there’s the Halaal certified meat sausages ranging from country style, beef, chicken, ostrich, lamb and mutton, to the Non-Halaal pork chipolatas, cheese grillers, viennas, chorizo and venison sausages. So go ahead and indulge your love of sausage and contact N1 today.
Sources:
Wikipedia
Robust Kitchen
Taste Atlas
